In Plaques, we see written records – which are both one-sided and incomplete accounts of French colonialism: the victories, the colonial armies and the struggle for independence. Following in the wake of historical events, these commemorative plaques epitomized the decision to inscribe in stone the duty of remembering – lest we forget… Half forgotten memories are summonsed, forcing a society which is struggling to find a common past and future to confront its memories. What results is a shift between personal and collective memory, between memory and history, between the interpretation and reappropriation of reality.

Overseas, memories of colonialism, Yo-Yo Gonthier, Marie Gueret

The remnants of France’s colonial empire formed the backdrop to this project. Nature and forgetfulness may obliterate the personal and collective memory of what was both a glorious and bloody past, but that memory remains deeply ingrained in our country’s questioning of identity.

The project used the photographic eye as a starting point to trace this history. Work began in 2003 in the tropical agronomy gardens in Nogent-sur-Marne, site of the 1907 colonial exhibition, where some of the original buildings still remain. I was struck by how dilapidated and almost invisible the monuments to the colonial soldiers were, buried within the vegetation. From these beginnings, the project continued from 2006 to 2008 in various towns across France, giving rise to a first exhibition in France et Espace Khiasma, Les Lilas, Paris in May 2008.

OUTRE-MER is a five-part show, including three photography exhibits entitled Monuments, Plaques and Oui mon commandant (Yes Sir). The exhibition catalogue brings together extracts from discussions and written presentations on colonial issues by the writer Sophie Maurer, using photos as a backdrop.

- The Monuments exhibit reveals how these memorials to France’s colonial past are present yet invisible in public spaces. The photos, like the commemorative monuments, show us something but tell us nothing. The imposing scale of the monuments keeps us at a distance meaning a closer examination is needed for any detailed analysis. The monuments are merely bandages on a badly healed wound – honoring memory serves no purpose if the trauma has not been explained and dealt with.

- In Plaques, we see written records – which are both one-sided and incomplete accounts of French colonialism: the victories, the colonial armies and the struggle for independence. Following in the wake of historical events, these commemorative plaques epitomized the decision to inscribe in stone the duty of remembering – lest we forget… Half forgotten memories are summonsed, forcing a society which is struggling to find a common past and future to confront its memories. What results is a shift between personal and collective memory, between memory and history, between the interpretation and reappropriation of reality.

- The Oui mon commandant (Yes Sir) exhibit, still a work in progress, raises questions about a colonial culture steeped in stereotypes – the image of the colonial settler, forever presiding over the public square, the French politics and media, the western shopfronts. Adopting the style of a colonial showcase of curios, the exhibition presents the material collected over the course of the project, offering historical and visual landmarks from the beginnings of colonialism to the present day.